Rockets down Nets 94-85 in overtime

By The Associated Press     Jan 14, 2005

? Bob Sura scored a career-high 35 points, including a game-clinching 3-pointer with 1:02 left in overtime Thursday to lead the surging Houston Rockets to a 94-85 victory over the New Jersey Nets.

“I knew I had to step up,” said Sura, playing on a knee that had been drained of fluid Tuesday. “I’m hanging in there. I’ll fight through it as best I can and try to help our team.”

Juwan Howard scored eight of his 12 points in the extra period, and a hobbled Tracy McGrady added 18 points for the Rockets, who matched a season-best three-game winning streak and moved two games above .500 (19-17) for the first time this season.

Jason Kidd narrowly missed a triple-double with 16 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, and Vince Carter had 17 points for the Nets, who dropped their third straight and fifth in the past six games.

“I feel horrible for our guys,” Nets coach Lawrence Frank said. “They gave a tremendous effort … I was only disappointed with the result.”

Kings 107, Jazz 93

In Sacramento, California, Peja Stojakovic scored 27 points, Chris Webber had 23 points and 15 rebounds, and Brad Miller had 21 points on 9-of-10 shooting for the Sacramento’s win over Utah.

The Kings had just nine players in uniform for the second straight game.

Mike Bibby sat out with a sprained ankle, and the lost Greg Ostertag and Maurice Evans to injuries during a physical game featuring plenty of hard contact and confrontations.

Carlos Boozer had 15 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for the Jazz, who followed up surprising victories over Phoenix and San Antonio earlier this week with their 10th loss in 12 games.

Lakers 98, Cavaliers 94

In Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant went down hard and did not return, though the Los Angeles Lakers were able to defeat LeBron James and Cleveland without him.

Bryant sustained what the team called a severely sprained right ankle and had to be helped off the court early. X-rays were negative, but Bryant will have an MRI on Friday.

Lamar Odom had 24 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, and Caron Butler added 21 points and 11 rebounds for the Lakers, who won for the third time in four games.

James led Cleveland with 28 points, a season-high 13 rebounds and nine assists to just miss his first career triple-double. Jeff McInnis added 20 points and Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 13 points and 15 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who had their four-game winning streak snapped.

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